


In Relation To Time

by Bea_The_Cat123



Category: Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Children, Crowley's Name is Crawly | Crawley (Good Omens), Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mud, Pre-Canon, Rain, The Ark, they/them crowley
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-24
Updated: 2019-11-24
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:34:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21552349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bea_The_Cat123/pseuds/Bea_The_Cat123
Summary: Crawly has a lot of thoughts about rain.
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	In Relation To Time

Time just marched forward and forward.

Crawly was standing on the outskirts of a small town, a simple black tunic and cloak on. They stood under the small awning, arms crossed, and leaned against the dry clay wall. 

There had been a time when they welcomed this weather, to fly into the storms and rain, hair and wings soaking, and laugh in the face of it. Heaven could cover the sky, and that wouldn’t stop them from taunting them. The rain had been refreshing, cool, and left them clean.

Then...100 years ago...something changed. Something about the currents, the storms, the water flooding through the basin and crashing through homes and cities...it was like Heaven had finally realized their taunting. Crawly who managed to only save a couple children, still felt broken to see the murky depths fill with blood.

What, truly, had been wrong with those people? They had lives. Families. Motives and wants and a whole _world_ of possibilities...all washed down the drain. And when the waters ceased, the skeletons remained.

Soon, things dried. Blood dried, wind picked at the rock and sand, and soon the cities were buried in silt. Memories, families, a past world...completely gone.

Crawly never forgot. It was one of their biggest flaws, their inability to let go of anything. They had originally thought it was a demon thing, but when they started to get attached to the angel, when they started to talk to humans and creatures and the world, they realized that other demons didn’t share the same sentiment. They were now very, very alone. No people of the time before except the four children he saved...and now, they were buried in the ground too.

Crawly could sense that Aziraphale was also in this town. His angelic presence sparkled everywhere he went, like the stars at night. He remembered the old days...but definitely not in the same way. Aziraphale hadn’t even spoken to The Almighty about it, when he clearly had the right to.

Crawly sighed, tugging in their cloak despite the humid air. A splash caught their attention, and they pushed their copper hair out of their face to see. Three small children were running into the rain from an alley, all of them young and bright-eyed. Crawly reached out an arm to stop them, but they just escaped their touch. Crawly bit their lip and stepped out from under the awning, keeping their reptilian eyes on the children.

They were laughing. They were chasing each other, squeaking over the roar of the rain. One kid slipped in the mud and another splashed in a puddle. Crawly stared, dumbfounded by their lack of fear. Didn’t their parents tell them to fear the rain? There were so many dangers for them. Crawly felt their heart jump as another slipped and paused. The child started to get to his feet, but they seemed stuck in the mud. Crawly shrugged off the hood and rushed towards the little one. The other children stepped aside as Crawly worked the water to get the child unstuck, and pulled them out of the puddle. 

“There,” Crawly said quietly, fear edging at their voice. The child smiled up at them, mud covering their cheeks. They reached out their grubby hands and took Crawly’s and jumped up and down. The other children circled around and did the same. Water drenched Crawly’s tunic and cloak, and their scaled feet were covered in mud. They gave a very small jump, and the children cheered. 

They wanted them to play?

One of the children pulled at Crawly’s tunic and then ran to a mud puddle, where they splashed and kicked around, laughing the whole way through. A memory stirred at Crawly, and they could feel their feathers collecting on their back. 

They had been that child once, rolling and splashing in the mud from the simple glee of confirmed safety and rebellion. The child would be washed up, but that was long off for the being’s small and simple life. Now, they were focused on chasing their friends, hugging them and playing in the dirt.

Crawly felt their eyes start to burn with tears that refused to fall. One of the other kids ran past them, patting them with a muddy hand, then giggling and running off. She stopped, then turned expectantly to Crawly. She jumped a bit on her toes, alerting her friends. 

“It’s the monster! We must fight it!” She and her friends rallied together. Crawly processed the dialogue before realizing that they were playing a game, and the children didn’t actually think they were scary. 

Crawly only realized this after they had been pushed and pulled into a mud puddle, encompassed by giggling and smiling. 

A smile broke out on Crawly’s face, and they flicked their tongue menacingly. The children shrieked with laughter and splashed around Crawly, who got up and chased them around. They snatched up one, who forgot the pursuit and instead hugged Crawly, giggling. 

Crawly gave a sniff, feeling the child’s delicate body in their arms, full of life and love. They gently put them down, and the children ran off again, this time, back into the town, waving to the demon as they left.

Crawly met up with Aziraphale later that day, who was in the town helping with the creation of a Synagogue. 

“Crawly!” Aziraphale welcomed, before warning the demon of the nearby consecrated grounds. “I just saw you!”

“You did?”

“Yes, playing with those children over there!” Aziraphale pointed to just outside the town. Crawly felt their cheeks rise in heat. “Oh, don’t look so upset, we can clean your clothes.” Aziraphale reached out to pat them, but stopped. Crawly could feel the vapor of anxiety in the angel’s ways. “Well, it was awfully nice of you to help that child out of the mu-“

“Don’t say that,” Crawly muttered, their voice dark and fragile. 

“What?”

“I’m not...that word, nice,” Crawly crosses their muddy arms. “I juss’ like mud, is all. And I scared them away.” 

“Ah, yes, because most children laugh when they’re scared,” Aziraphale crossed his arms too. There was a tense silence between the two. Crawly sighed, feeling the water drip down their body. “If you were being truly demonic, you’d make their parents angry.”

Crawly’s eyebrows shot up as they began to consider the possibility. A smile returned to his face, and his eyes flicked back to Aziraphale. 

“Oh, for the love of-“

“That’s just what I’ll report!” Crawly snapped their fingers. “I was only nice to those children so I could tempt them into being dirty, and then I got their parents angry when they track mud into the house!” Crawly took Aziraphale’s hand, who tensed up at the contact. “You’re brilliant, you angel!” Crawly gave a small jump. “That’ll get them off my back for awhile.”

“Ah...yes...” Aziraphale was still baffled by the mud on his hand. “Goodness, the past repeats itself here.” 

“No, it never does,” Crawly grinned, thinking of the joy on the children’s faces as they splashed in the rain. They placed a hand on their heart. “Call me weak, but...” Crawly grabbed Aziraphale’s shoulder and gave the angel an excited shake, sending drops of water off the two of them. “They don’t fear the weather, Aziraphale! The humans don’t fear Her!” Crawly pointed up. 

“Shh!” Aziraphale snapped his head toward his friend. “Don’t talk about the Almighty that way!” 

“Oh, yeah, She’d get _soooo_ mad at me, tracking mud into Her shiny heaven halls-“

“Crawly! Please!” Aziraphale pouted. “For the love of...I’m glad you had your fun, but you’re getting mud everywhere!” Aziraphale took a step back and gestured to his tunic. “Oh, I’ll never get this out, blasted dirt.”

Crawly sighed, realizing their giddiness had made Aziraphale uncomfortable. They gave a snap, and the stains disappeared.

“Oh!” Aziraphale gasped before inspecting his body. He was completely clean. Crawly dragged their hand down their face, leaving a streak of mud on it. Aziraphale gave a small smile, and ever so gently, wiped a bit of the mud off of Crawly’s face.

“Thank you,” Aziraphale smiled. Crawly’s heart pounded louder than the rain as they felt the glitters Of Aziraphale’s holy love stick to their face. They blushed bright red and pulled away a bit.

“Don’t say that either.”

**Author's Note:**

> This alludes to my other fic “A Discovery.” I really enjoyed writing this at the end. I have a lot of thoughts about Crowley ok???


End file.
